Him and Douglas Adams are the reason I ever wanted to get into writing in the first place. I read Pyramids in 8th grade and was instantly hooked. His mix of comedy, satire, and just good old-fashioned storytelling made him probably my favorite author ever. I had been planning to write a letter to him for a long time. Now I won't get that chance.

Not really sure what to think. Reading would probably only make me depressed. Writing would be productive, but I don't know if my heart would be in it.

Terry Pratchett was a wonderful writer, probably my favourite novelist. His books are clever, humane, dark and complex all while seeming to be mostly light hearted comic fantasy. That is ground which many people will talk about in the coming days. But I’d like to highlight something else, something that endeared him especially to me; how he influenced my paganism.

Oh, yes, hi, my name’s Nick and I’m Pagan. This isn't exactly a secret but you know I'm not walking around with a giant pentagram or anything (probably because as symbols go, it’s not one of my favourites). Paganism, Neopaganism, is kind of* ad hoc and free form, which is why it appeals to me. I have cobbled together concepts and practices that are theologically/spiritually/transcendentally satisfying for me and a fair number I took from my reading of Pratchett’s work.

I truly do think that gods are finite things that grow and thrive based on the food that is genuine belief, whether that is a literal truth or simply a metaphorical one doesn't actually matter, it’s pretty dead on. I first read about that concept in, hmm I want to say “Small Gods” but I think it’s earlier than that, “Small Gods” is just the novel that really expounds upon it. This wasn’t an idea originated by Pratchett, indeed go read “Divine Horsemen” and see Maya Deren talking about it decades earlier, but his gift for presenting philosophy through narrative was tremendous.

I really do see the year split into two seasons overseen by two figures, The Summer Lady and The Wintersmith, you may have seen me alluding to them in posts from time to time. Again this isn’t really a new concept (aside from the names, I think) but he gave it such life in my favourite subset of the Discworld books; those concerning the Witches, both of the Ramtops and those of the Chalk (I think Tiffany is my favourite character in the books, though “Spike” Dearheart** is close, for entirely different reasons). Being ad-hoc-free-form Neopaganism doesn’t exactly have scriptures but I would recommend a beginning witch or other pagan/occultist, especially one of a bucolic bent, to read all of the witch centric Discworld books, there are worst places to start off.

I keep wanting to organize the Morris dance described in “Wintersmith”, the one where the Fool and The Lady swap sides of the square to represent the change of the seasons, it seems as if it would be good to do that this year really.

I also always think of Lilly Weatherwax when I manage to step between two mirrors, that’s not a big thing, I suppose it’s just an image that really resonated.

His ideas that the world runs on stories and that stories are essentially formed from a sort of element also makes so much sense from a conceptual standpoint.

Pratchett created a body of work that is phenomenally deep in folkloric knowledge and this increased with his later years. If you've never read him please do, I suggest starting with one of the witch books (I did) but “Guards! Guards!” isn’t a bad jumping off point either.

And for those who knew and loved him: It was suggested that people wear a sprig of Lilac on the 25th of May in remembrance of PTerry. I like this idea; after all we were all there, so I would encourage us all to do that.

*because there are neopagan movements that are far more structured, Gardnerian Wicca for example, I'm not Wiccan, or indeed anything but a free form eclectic.

** And was Claire Foy ever well cast in “Going Postal”, Little Dorrit really grew up to be…compelling.

This seems like the place to say it: I've never read Pratchett, and I've been meaning to start. Something about things like this always spurns me on (I didn't read HHGTTG until shortly after Adams died).

Anyway, given the massive amount of what he's written with regards to Discworld, I want to ask: is there a good place to start? Just go right from the beginning, or can one skip some of the early stuff if it's a bit rough?